Erin Bonham is the creative behind the greeting cards at BoxBerry! She grew up in Gladwin, Michigan, attended college at Ferris State University, and now lives in Chicago, Illinois. Memories and moments from her past have played a big part in how she got started making greeting cards - she says, "I've been a lifelong doodler so the illustrations came easy. Like most girls of the 90's I had an obsession for the wildly colorful stationery products of Lisa Frank. As a kid, I loved going through my mother's writing desk that always seemed to be stocked with whimsical stationery, stamps, and greeting cards." In 2013, she started creating cards to send to her pen pals and sold them on Etsy as well as local shops and craft shows. Initially, she offered about eight designs, and now has upwards of 40 available.

The name of her business actually comes from a plant, the Boxberry (aka Teaberry). Erin explains, "growing up, I was lucky enough to live next door to my grandmother who had a couple teaberry plants in her yard. Around age 5, she introduced me to the plant and its minty edible berries so naturally I assumed this was a magical plant that only grew at her home. I loved that feeling I got when I went searching for the tea berries so I wanted my card line to represent that same feeling." Bonus fun fact, Erin actually has a Boxberry plant tattooed on her arm!

Erin has been with us from the very beginning of our shop and even donated an item to the ultimate-handmade-giveaway at our grand opening; it has truly been a pleasure working with her. Illustration is Erin's favorite part of her creative process. She says her second favorite thing is printing the card and actually seeing the final product for the first time. (We bet that does feel amazing!) In addition to her creative small business, Erin is a freelance graphic designer. Go see Erin in person at One of a Kind Show & Sale December 1-4 in Chicago, or click the link below to get your BoxBerry goods online!

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